Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Project 365 (96/365): Rocky Raccoon

.:96/365: Rocky Racoon:.

A barrel of laughs in a cute widdle package.

The Rocky Racoon is one of the best items a comedy magician could have, assuming they like physical, visual comedy, and are willing to write something funny and different for their script. The Racoon being one of the most popular comedy magic routines out there is the best and worst thing about it, because chances are, if someone has seen it before, if you did it for them, you’d be repeating 90% of the same material they’ve heard before.

Nonetheless, Rocky Racoon is a very powerful routine for comedy magic, as it combines a lot of elements we’ve come to escape from the genre, and the fact that there are expectations within the routine itself that we can play with tends to open doors for creativity and new, refreshing approaches to a classic of comedy magic. I think any comedy magician worth their salt has probably, at some point, engaged in a routine involving Rocky Raccoon or a similar non-living object that is brought vividly to life by the wit, the imagination, and the skill of the performer. It catches people’s attention, and with proper handling, it does make the average spectator do a double-take because the best handlers of Rocky tend to make him appear incredibly lifelike.

I love this routine a lot, and with a wide variety of Rocky Raccoon variants available, it’s a perfect gateway into working with a “partner”, akin to how ventriloquists work with their puppets.